White House ordered to restore Medicaid funding to Planned Parenthood clinics

(CN) — A federal judge on Monday blocked the Trump administration’s efforts to defund Planned Parenthood clinics through the GOP’s tax legislation, building on an earlier ruling that restored funding to just 10 clinics.

Last week, U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani blocked the government from cutting off Medicaid payments to Planned Parenthood members that didn’t provide abortion care or meet a threshold of at least $800,000 in Medicaid reimbursements in a given year — a narrow ruling affecting less than a dozen locations.

But the Barack Obama appointee went a step further on Monday, finding patients would likely suffer where care is disrupted or unavailable.

“In particular, restricting members’ ability to provide health care services threatens an increase in unintended pregnancies and attendant complications because of reduced access to effective contraceptives, and an increase in undiagnosed and untreated STIs,” Talwani wrote in a 58-page order.

The judge ruled that all Planned Parenthood clinics nationwide must continue to be reimbursed for Medicaid funding, slapping down the government’s efforts to kneecap the largest abortion provider in the country.

“We strongly disagree with the court’s decision,” a Department of Health and Human Services spokesperson said in a statement. “States should not be forced to fund organizations that have chosen political advocacy over patient care. This ruling undermines state flexibility and disregards longstanding concerns about accountability.”

The ruling comes in response to a lawsuit from Planned Parenthood Federation of America, which sued the Trump administration this month over its intent to enforce the “defund provision” in the GOP’s so-called Big Beautiful Bill.

That provision, which prohibits health centers associated with Planned Parenthood from receiving Medicaid reimbursements for one year, is meant “to punish them for lawful activity, namely advocating for and providing legal abortion access wholly outside the Medicaid program and without using any federal funds,” according to the group.

Planned Parenthood claims this breaches its First Amendment right to advocate. As for its members that provide abortion service to patients, the group claims the government is violating equal protection based on their association with Planned Parenthood.

The organization isn’t explicitly named in the provision, but its leaders claim that it will affect its nearly 600 centers around the country.

In her Monday ruling, Talwani noted that Planned Parenthood is likely to succeed on its claim that the government is trampling on its First Amendment rights, finding that the defund provision is “not sufficiently tailored to stop elective abortions rather than advocacy.”

In fact, defunding those clinics could actually lead to an increase in elective abortions — supposedly precisely what the law is vying to prevent — the judge ruled.

“Moreover, decreased access to contraceptives and the corresponding increase in the number of unintended pregnancies caused by excluding Planned Parenthood members from Medicaid will likely result in an increased number of abortions,” Talwani wrote.

Planned Parenthood claims losing Medicaid funds could mean closing nearly 200 clinics in 24 states. That means more than half of the approximately 2 million people it serves every year are at risk of losing access to that care, the group says in its lawsuit.

Talwani acknowledged that abortions make up only 4% of Planned Parenthood members’ services nationwide. The other care includes cancer screening, physical exams, vasectomies, colonoscopies and other services.

“Restricting access to member health care clinics will negatively affect more than just reproductive health,” the judge wrote. “Members often serve as a source of primary care for patients.”

Though broader than her first order last week, the Monday ruling — granting an emergency preliminary injunction for Planned Parenthood — is still just a temporary one.

Now, the Trump administration is barred from withholding Medicaid funding from the group’s clinics as the proceedings progress in federal court in Massachusetts.

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